WP rep is cool....but the rest.....

[devilplate]

Buying of hdb flats

They buy without grant and got mop period.... Doesnt bother me... But... I not happy to let PR buy our 999/FH landed!!!

[land118]

They buy without grant and got mop period.... Doesnt bother me... But... I not happy to let PR buy our 999/FH landed!!!

Ya, 999/FH landed shld be for citizens only, strictly applied and complied..., if they buy 999/FH mean they see Singapore as long term prospects, then they should give up their passport and become citizen...

[ysyap]

Ya, 999/FH landed shld be for citizens only, strictly applied and complied..., if they buy 999/FH mean they see Singapore as long term prospects, then they should give up their passport and become citizen...

Yes yes... if landed are strictly for S'poreans, then prices won't climb so quickly... nearly doubled since 10 years ago...

[Regulators]

Market forces deciding prices plus massive influx of pr property buyers with lots of money is a recipe for disaster in public housing.

They buy without grant and got mop period.... Doesnt bother me... But... I not happy to let PR buy our 999/FH landed!!!

[ysyap]

Anyway, on the issue of election, came across an article that attributed higher cost of living to PAP's policy... Opposition will surely whack PAP on this in their rallies...enjoy reading...

Gov’t to blame for rising cost of living?

By Seah Chiang Nee
The rising cost of living is fast becoming the second biggest concern — next to jobs and earnings — among Singaporeans, who will go to the polls this year.
Last week they received more bad news. Electricity costs will rise by 6.5 percent this month and a major oil firm will put up petrol prices at the pump.
These are the latest of a string of price increases that have been ploughing through the city heartland, often uncontrollably, and a few of them by substantial margins.
The whole thing is now like dominos going down, with one price hike leading to another.
For example, more cafes and restaurants are charging diners up to S$1 for a glass of water, and one bicycle shop in Tampines is reportedly charging cyclists 50 cents for pumping air into tyres.
In the heartland, it sometimes takes on laughable proportions, with some hawkers imposing an additional charge on customers who want a bit more sauce, ketchup or chilli.
The most damaging are big-ticket items like healthcare and homes, public transport, cars, petrol and, of course, foodstuff.
Few things — big or small — are spared for long. Sooner or later rentals will go up and vendors will charge more to make up for that.
A random look at the press showed a wide range of products and services being affected — from school bus fees to baby food, from car insurance to curry puffs.
In the past, the government had managed inflation well, keeping costs very low despite the island's dependency on the outside world for oil, commodities and food.
But in the past five years (except for the recession), inflation has made life tough for the average wage earner.
A big factor was the sharp rises in energy, commodity and food price worldwide.
Some Singaporeans attribute the rising prices to the government's "grow at all costs" strategy and its mass intake of foreigners within a short period, which strained resources.
"I think a large part of the inflation in Singapore is induced by government policy," said Leong Wai Ho, senior regional economist, Barclays Capital.
He was referring to the COE system, in which a person has to bid for a Certificate of Entitlement (with a 10-year life span) before he can buy a new car in Singapore.
Currently, the COE for a car ranges from S$40,000 to S$60,000 depending on capacity, after rising to incredible levels.
"If you take that away, inflation will be Singapore (sic) is much more manageable," Leong added.
A writer said: "The cost of living is growing, fuelled by demand from an enlarged populace for scarce resources, as well as higher government taxes and fees."
During Singapore's brief post-independence history, residents of this small island, which has few natural resources, have been conditioned to deal with the occasional price spasm.
When times were good, these could be shrugged away. This year, it appears harder to limit the damage than before.
The current crisis appears more fundamental and lasting.
In fact, it may become a structured feature in cosmopolitan Singapore.
I believe that many aspects may have been due to our ambition to become a metropolis for the rich and talented.
This means prices are no longer determined only by supply and demand.
With the world's highest increase in the proportion of millionaires, and massive foreign funds coming in, Singapore has been transformed for good.
People can forget about prices falling back to pre-inflation levels, barring a calamity.
The plague of 5 percent-5.5 percent inflation is eating into people's salaries and savings.
"I'm worried because my bank savings, which fetch only interest of 0.15%, are losing out," a housewife lamented. "When you save, you lose; don't invest, even worse."
Those who have mandatory retirement savings will be similarly affected.
Their CPF (Central Provident Fund) ordinary account pays them only 2.5 percent a year.
"With this inflation, all citizens' CPF will depreciate in value before we can even use it.
"The payout (on retirement) will probably be enough only for daily coffee expenses," a surfer said.
A chief investment officer commented: "We are likely to see increasing inflationary pressures in the quarters and years to come."
Singaporeans are particularly concerned about the possible decline of their CPF money which must follow any prolonged inflation.
The fear is very real and strong in many families.
Will the public's concern affect the election results? I believe it will, to some extent.
TODAY newspaper, which recently surveyed heartland voters on this subject, reported:
"From basic necessities to hawker meals, from holidays to that new car, from healthcare bills to expenses related to starting and raising a family, it seems that Singaporeans are certainly feeling the pinch of higher prices."
It found 40 percent of poorer Singaporeans (income from nil to S$2,000 a month) replied that the rising living costs would affect how they would vote.
Among those earning S$2,001-S$6,000, six in 10 said the issue would influence how they cast their ballot, TODAY reported.
Some older citizens, who are not benefiting from Singapore's dazzling plan to become a world-class city, are unhappy. "Give us back our older days" is their common cry.
The idea is less attractive to the younger set, which has adapted well to new technologies, although still trying hard to cope with the high prices.

[land118]

Government knows...., so in CNA today...they say we will get letters of goodie$ very soon..., which only mean GE is getting closer

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...120804/1/.html

S'poreans to get letters on growth dividends & other payouts
Posted: 05 April 2011 1715 hrs

SINGAPORE:

From 5 April, 2.5 million Singaporeans will receive letters from the government informing them of the amount of Growth Dividends, CPF Medisave top-ups, Workfare and personal income tax rebates they will individually receive this year.

The letter will also contain information on other household benefits they will receive from Budget 2011. The majority of Singaporeans will receive their letters by the end of this week.

The "Grow & Share" Package, together with other benefits in Budget 2011, will help Singaporeans cope with higher costs of living this year. Most lower- and middle-income Singaporean households will receive benefits that are much larger than the increase in the cost of their household baskets this year.

A typical lower-income two generation household living in a 3-room HDB flat will receive benefits of about S$3,500, which is significantly more than the cost increases they are expected to face. This is true also for a typical middle-income three-generation household living in a 5-room HDB, who will receive benefits of about S$4,000.

Singaporeans will receive S$2 billion in Growth Dividends and CPF Medisave top-ups on 1 May.

Further information on the "Grow & Share" package, including a calculator that will enable Singaporeans to know how much household benefits they should receive, is available on www.growandshare.gov.sg or by calling 1800 2222 888.

- CNA/ir

[hopeful]

definitely, people's gratitude can only last so long.
If give goodies one year before election, no effect.

[land118]

Top-ups on May Day, so there will be good things to talk about and solid speeches for MAY DAY....

[Regulators]

the goodies I get not even enough to pay half my road tax

definitely, people's gratitude can only last so long.
If give goodies one year before election, no effect.

[westman]

no hard feeling lah. sometime this kind of discussion get heated up very easily one leh . u are right i vote with my heart and pocket hor

Great and cool down.
Anyway, not sure about you. Me actually quite hardcore PAP supporter before.
However, am very disappointed since 2006.

Anyway, am prepare to hear what opp and pap can offers with regards to FT/living costs/healthcare/education/transport/housing matters.

Credit to 1G PAP MPs as they did a good job.
I will be looking forward to LHL layout what PAP will do for the next five years before deciding my vote.

[wenqing]

Great and cool down.
Anyway, not sure about you. Me actually quite hardcore PAP supporter before.
However, am very disappointed since 2006.

Anyway, am prepare to hear what opp and pap can offers with regards to FT/living costs/healthcare/education/transport/housing matters.

Credit to 1G PAP MPs as they did a good job.
I will be looking forward to LHL layout what PAP will do for the next five years before deciding my vote.

I was like you but gave up believing already.

I realise PAP broken promises were always there, just that ST and CNA did not remind us.

We forgot when next elections arrive and got distracted by terms like 'A-Team and the future for next 5 years.

But every year got bread & butter issues which did not go away. This does not reconcile with highest ministers salary in the world and High % GDP growth.

I want to break out of this cycle for good.


PAP GE 2006 Broken Promises.

http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.p...-2006-election

[wenqing]

Government knows...., so in CNA today...they say we will get letters of goodie$ very soon..., which only mean GE is getting closer

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...120804/1/.html

S'poreans to get letters on growth dividends & other payouts
Posted: 05 April 2011 1715 hrs

SINGAPORE:

From 5 April, 2.5 million Singaporeans will receive letters from the government informing them of the amount of Growth Dividends, CPF Medisave top-ups, Workfare and personal income tax rebates they will individually receive this year.

The letter will also contain information on other household benefits they will receive from Budget 2011. The majority of Singaporeans will receive their letters by the end of this week.

The "Grow & Share" Package, together with other benefits in Budget 2011, will help Singaporeans cope with higher costs of living this year. Most lower- and middle-income Singaporean households will receive benefits that are much larger than the increase in the cost of their household baskets this year.

A typical lower-income two generation household living in a 3-room HDB flat will receive benefits of about S$3,500, which is significantly more than the cost increases they are expected to face. This is true also for a typical middle-income three-generation household living in a 5-room HDB, who will receive benefits of about S$4,000.

Singaporeans will receive S$2 billion in Growth Dividends and CPF Medisave top-ups on 1 May.

Further information on the "Grow & Share" package, including a calculator that will enable Singaporeans to know how much household benefits they should receive, is available on www.growandshare.gov.sg or by calling 1800 2222 888.

- CNA/ir

Give drumstick , take back entire chicken.

This is well documented for years, surely you are not going to fall for it.

GST 10% is no joke.

Government so far had not come out to come clean and deny it.

I only vote on two issues which are GST increase to 7% and Minister Pay Hike to highest in the world.

Both happened after GE 2006 so no chance to vote on this yet.

[ysyap]

Give drumstick , take back entire chicken.

This is well documented for years, surely you are not going to fall for it.

GST 10% is no joke.

Government so far had not come out to come clean and deny it.

I only vote on two issues which are GST increase to 7% and Minister Pay Hike to highest in the world.

Both happened after GE 2006 so no chance to vote on this yet.

Give a black and white picture of drumstick but require an entire real chicken...
Most of the 5% inflation stems from 2 sources... Super high COE (more than some car's body price that they already pack up and go home) and escalating housing prices.

[Regulators]

Minister and prata man's pay hike definitely on the agenda. High medical cost and the useless medisave schemes are issues I have against the current government.

Give drumstick , take back entire chicken.

This is well documented for years, surely you are not going to fall for it.

GST 10% is no joke.

Government so far had not come out to come clean and deny it.

I only vote on two issues which are GST increase to 7% and Minister Pay Hike to highest in the world.

Both happened after GE 2006 so no chance to vote on this yet.

[devilplate]

Give a black and white picture of drumstick but require an entire real chicken...
Most of the 5% inflation stems from 2 sources... Super high COE (more than some car's body price that they already pack up and go home) and escalating housing prices.

i actually support high COE....SG is too small to have so many cars....wats the point of having cars if u r always stuck in a jam? when coe cost ard 10k....any fresh grad can afford to drive a getz/picanto....or red plate hyundai/civic....

not sure if we remove the car component.,...wat will be the inflation rate?

[devilplate]

Give drumstick , take back entire chicken.

This is well documented for years, surely you are not going to fall for it.

GST 10% is no joke.

Government so far had not come out to come clean and deny it.

I only vote on two issues which are GST increase to 7% and Minister Pay Hike to highest in the world.

Both happened after GE 2006 so no chance to vote on this yet.

is this type of rebates benefit the lowest end of the income earner?

inflation is inevitable....just tot tat a perfect solution wud be tax more on the rich and subsidise more on the poor(but make sure its not feeding the maggots)

[wenqing]

is this type of rebates benefit the lowest end of the income earner?

inflation is inevitable....just tot tat a perfect solution wud be tax more on the rich and subsidise more on the poor(but make sure its not feeding the maggots)

I prefer's Opposition's plan to have GST only on luxuries.

The poor suffer more than rich when tax on necessities hence they buy less necessities like rice, sugar, salt, clothing etc after GST was implemented.

Before GST was implemented, the poor already hardly buy luxuries and struggling with necessities which is why they are call poor. Most spend on necessities.

After GST, the poor even need to cut down on necessities let alone luxuries.

Spending pattern of the poor is basic economics right ?

For the rich, spending on necessities is negligeble.

For the middle-class, no need to say, will become struggling class soon before next generation become poor.

[wenqing]

Minister and prata man's pay hike definitely on the agenda. High medical cost and the useless medisave schemes are issues I have against the current government.

Yep, everybody has their own issues to vote on.

Some vote on foreign policies (PAP like do not have), some on healthcare, some vote on transport, some vote on bread & butter issues (every election have this issue, why ? ), some vote on housing policies etc.

Your issues should be enough.

There is no need to have too many issues to think about to decide your vote.

[wenqing]

i actually support high COE....SG is too small to have so many cars....wats the point of having cars if u r always stuck in a jam? when coe cost ard 10k....any fresh grad can afford to drive a getz/picanto....or red plate hyundai/civic....

not sure if we remove the car component.,...wat will be the inflation rate?

If you notice on the roads, alot of cars are driven by foreigners and these foreigners are immune to COE and ERP.

I was given free unuse parking coupons a few times and all given by foreigners.

Foreigners are the biggest culprits for increase in human and car population and the government did not build enough roads on time to accomodate them.

[wenqing]

Great and cool down.
Anyway, not sure about you. Me actually quite hardcore PAP supporter before.
However, am very disappointed since 2006.

Anyway, am prepare to hear what opp and pap can offers with regards to FT/living costs/healthcare/education/transport/housing matters.

Credit to 1G PAP MPs as they did a good job.
I will be looking forward to LHL layout what PAP will do for the next five years before deciding my vote.

I agree early generations of PAP leaders were good, public-minded and sincere.

To be frank, if MM Lee still PM, I will vote PAP.

Even SM Goh's time were good but he started the pork-barrel politics of HDB upgrading which set a bad precedent for future governments to follow.

PM Lee now and his merry gang shows obvious signs of deterioriation.

The new batch of leaders do not have the sincerity, will and strength of the old guard.

Whereas WP now reminds me of PAP Old Guard.

[westman]

Give drumstick , take back entire chicken.

This is well documented for years, surely you are not going to fall for it.

GST 10% is no joke.

Government so far had not come out to come clean and deny it.

I only vote on two issues which are GST increase to 7% and Minister Pay Hike to highest in the world.

Both happened after GE 2006 so no chance to vote on this yet.

You are luck for just returing back entire chicken.
There are some returning all their entire $$$/assets or backside after the errection...

[westman]

I agree early generations of PAP leaders were good, public-minded and sincere.

To be frank, if MM Lee still PM, I will vote PAP.

Even SM Goh's time were good but he started the pork-barrel politics of HDB upgrading which set a bad precedent for future governments to follow.

PM Lee now and his merry gang shows obvious signs of deterioriation.

The new batch of leaders do not have the sincerity, will and strength of the old guard.

Whereas WP now reminds me of PAP Old Guard.

Agreed.
Strangely, for this coming election, some OPP candidates backgrounds better than PAP while LHL claimed talents hard to find in SG.

Also, damn buay tahan SIn Min Daily and LianHeWanBao for their efforts to "REPORT" how good TPL is... how loyal Puthu can be... targeted purely at those senior folks wor...

[rattydrama]

Agreed.
Strangely, for this coming election, some OPP candidates backgrounds better than PAP while LHL claimed talents hard to find in SG.

Also, damn buay tahan SIn Min Daily and LianHeWanBao for their efforts to "REPORT" how good TPL is... how loyal Puthu can be... targeted purely at those senior folks wor...

Publicity will not be given to opposition. remember its SPH.

opposition need to use other avenue but I bet they have the resources to do so. Very limited. I would like to see more check and balance.

[extremme]

S$15000/month ? 5 days weeks means one day $750...can buy many many LV or panda baggie...

Aiyah she dun even buy Lv in e pix she held up a v sign to her face n was holding Kate spade bag n looking pretty kiddish, few grades below Lv

Sorry if I offend ks lovers though I also have a few ks bags

[devilplate]

Aiyah she dun even buy Lv in e pix she held up a v sign to her face n was holding Kate spade bag n looking pretty kiddish, few grades below Lv

Sorry if I offend ks lovers though I also have a few ks bags

pasar malam bag can oredi lah...simi KS bag wor...

[devilplate]

If you notice on the roads, alot of cars are driven by foreigners and these foreigners are immune to COE and ERP.

I was given free unuse parking coupons a few times and all given by foreigners.

Foreigners are the biggest culprits for increase in human and car population and the government did not build enough roads on time to accomodate them.

mabe u can provide some stats about it?

i only see alot of red plate driven by youngsters....looks like fresh grad....

from wat i noe, not many expats drive.....if they do....mostly car rental

[westman]

Did you guys noticed the following

From past errection, PAP often play the offensive role on specific OPP target (2006 was Gomez)..
This time round, PAP has a taste of their own medicines with TPL/Puthu/FooMH/Vikram saga...

LHL damn unlucky to have a bad start of their election campaign.

Also, PAP normally lead the race with miles apart from OPP with good candidates. Seem like that is no longer true with the WP's Chen....

Very juicy so far and tot the world has turn upside down liao...

[wenqing]

Publicity will not be given to opposition. remember its SPH.

opposition need to use other avenue but I bet they have the resources to do so. Very limited. I would like to see more check and balance.

Yep, ST's and CNA's track record for covering elections has all along been not good and not healthy.

Receiving persistent one-sided good news about PAP and bad news about Opposition distorts voters ability to accurately vote for the right kind of people into Parliament.

SPH Chairman is ex-Minister Tony Tan.

Many hard truths about PAP candidates, ST and CNA will not help voters to dig and expose.

I already have serious doubts about characters of Tin Pei Ling, Foo Mee Har and Dr Janil 'I spend 10 years on children so no need do NS' Puthucheary. Plus the generals and NTUC members.

They all seem like money-grabbing opportunists who join for career advancements.

Directorships await all these people.

I already face reality about Singapore Media.

For GE 2011, I prefer to rely on Internet.

[westman]

Aiyah she dun even buy Lv in e pix she held up a v sign to her face n was holding Kate spade bag n looking pretty kiddish, few grades below Lv

Sorry if I offend ks lovers though I also have a few ks bags

Sis, mind to share how you think on TPL from a lady point of view?
So far, most of my lady friends are damn TL about her. Gen Y females colleagues of mine lagi TL than those mature ladies...

How?

[wenqing]

mabe u can provide some stats about it?

i only see alot of red plate driven by youngsters....looks like fresh grad....

from wat i noe, not many expats drive.....if they do....mostly car rental

Like I mentioned, there is no stats, just observation and experience.

At CBD, plenty of Caucasians drivers.